Comment Number: OL-10501861
Received: 2/28/2005 10:19:58 AM
Subject: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment
Title: National Security Personnel System
CFR Citation: 5 CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901
No Attachments

Comments:

Please let me know if anyone believes what DoD is selling in regards to NSPS, because I have a bridge in Brooklyn and beachfront property in Arizona to unload. This has nothing to do with security but everything to do with destroying rights with a deliberately overly- complicated system that has little to do with rewarding top performers and everything to do with busting employee unions and rights. I'm not positive, but didn't Northrop Grumman (huge Bush campaign contributors, Im sure) fleece the Government for this fiasco? Although I can surely agree that the current personnel system needs some refinement and tweaking, this is certainly not the way to go. NSPS does little to hold bad managers accountable. Of particular concern is the decimation of the appeals process. If DoD has the ultimate authority over any appeals (which they cleverly try to hide this fact), what are the chances of anyone getting anything close to a fair hearing. This is the fox guarding the hen house. This is just another example of this Administration of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich, eroding the Constitutional rights (in this case the right to effective union representation and fairness and protection from discrimination on the job) so valiantly fought for and defended by our brave men and women. What safeguards are there against unfair actions if the unions are basically eviscerated and the appeals process is virtually eliminated. If a worker at Ford is harassed or discriminated against, or is the victim of an unfair labor practice or job action, he/she has recourse with his/her union local or, if necessary, the National Labor Relations Board (which is independent of any company, corporation, or Government Agency), why shouldn't Federal Employees have this basic human right. (This National Security Labor Relations Board is a farce and is surely a puppet of the Administration. As I have seen too many times in my 16 years with DoD, this is something that appears to be hastily created with little forethought and with ill-defined requirements (that is when any of the requirements are defined). My job is testing new DoD software systems and rule number one is to first have comprehensive and well-defined requirements. This lacks both. If I were to be testing a system with the flaws of this new personnel system, it would fail immediately. I would shoot this piece of crap back to the developer, and the sorry excuse of a PMO that allowed this out the door, with instructions to start over and develop better-defined requirements (or at least something resembling requirements--heck MROs are not even defined)! NSPS is bad for DoD and bad for America as it will destroy morale across DoD. But maybe that is what this Administration wants so more DoD positions can be privatized thus enhancing the portfolios of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld (after all they will be unemployed in less that 4 years, they need to get started on their golden parachutes)